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Serpents Trail: The Crookedest Road In the World

Heart of the World | Wednesday, September 10, 2025

I had some time to continue working on my Heart of the World project after work today and decided it was time to cross the Serpents Trail off the list. It’s been a long time since I hiked the Serpents Trail in the Colorado National Monument and I honestly don’t even remember when the last time was, but I would guess it’s been at least eight to ten years now? It’s interesting to think about because there was a time when I hiked this trail pretty regularly to stay in shape, but I guess that’s the main reason why I started this whole project in the first place- so I could return to some of the trails in the Monument that I have not been back to in a long time. Although it was still over 90 degrees out this afternoon when I started hiking up the historic route, there was a strong wind that helped keep it feeling a bit cooler out, plus there were plenty of clouds that helped block the sunlight and made for some nicer photos.

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Lower No Thoroughfare Canyon

Heart of the World | Monday, August 18, 2025

Although I was running short on time as we prepared to spend the latter part of this week up in Wyoming, this afternoon was probably going to be my only opportunity to squeeze in an August hike in the Colorado National Monument for my Heart of the World project that I’ve been working on completing this year. So after work I waited until about 5:00pm in the evening, hoping the temperature would start to cool off a little, and then headed off to the Devils Kitchen Trailhead just inside the East Entrance so I could hike into Lower No Thoroughfare Canyon to the First Waterfall. It was still almost 100 degrees out as I started the hike, but there was an occasional strong breeze that helped cool me off, plus the parts of the canyon that were already in the shade felt pretty nice.

Upper Monument Canyon to Independence Monument

Heart of the World | Sunday, July 6, 2025

Since I ended up cancelling my planned backpacking trip this weekend and headed home early, I spent Saturday working on the new 4Runner and then decided to continue my Heart of the World project in the Colorado National Monument early on Sunday morning with a hike into upper Monument Canyon. Although I have hiked into and through Monument Canyon many times over the years, I don’t recall ever hiking up the upper portion of the trail before so I thought it would be fun to hike down the upper trail to Independence Monument and then return the same way, especially since I’ve already hiked the lower trail earlier this year. So after getting up early on Sunday morning I drove up to the Upper Monument Canyon Trailhead and started hiking down the trail shortly before sunrise.

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Black Ridge Trail – Rim Rock Drive Hike n’ Bike Loop

Heart of the World | Sunday, June 1, 2025

While Diane and I were originally planning to beat the heat this weekend by backpacking on top of the Grand Mesa, after driving up onto the Mesa Saturday morning we found that the road to our desired trailhead was still gated and closed so we decided to just return home to take a break and relax instead. Of course, I just couldn’t stay home all weekend, so I decided to head up into the Colorado National Monument very early on Sunday morning so I could continue working on my Heart of the World project by hiking the Black Ridge Trail and then competing a loop by riding my bike back to the trailhead on Rim Rock Drive. Although it seems pretty popular among road bikers, I have never really had the desire to bike any part of Rim Rock Drive before, but I thought it might be fun to try it once. I left home well before sunrise on Sunday morning and dropped my bike off at the Upper Liberty Cap Trailhead before continuing on to the other end of the trail at the Visitor Center to start the hike.

East Entrance Trails: Devils Kitchen & Echo Canyon

Heart of the World | Thursday, May 29, 2025

I headed out after work this afternoon to the East Entrance of the Colorado National Monument so I could continue working on my Heart of the World project by hiking the Devils Kitchen and Echo Canyon trails. These are two trails close to home that I have hiked a number of times in the past, but I now realize that it’s been quite a while since I have hiked either one of them. After quickly looking through my old Trip reports it seems that the last time I hiked to the Devils Kitchen was almost a decade ago and the last time I was in Echo Canyon was way back in 2013. I guess I have been long overdue for a return and it was nice to revisit these locations at the east end of the Monument this afternoon, even if it was pretty warm out!

Tag: grand junction

Serpents Trail: The Crookedest Road In the World

Lower No Thoroughfare Canyon

Upper Monument Canyon to Independence Monument

Black Ridge Trail – Rim Rock Drive Hike n’ Bike Loop

East Entrance Trails: Devils Kitchen & Echo Canyon